Chamber: Trump’s trade policy would cause US recession

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is using a recent analysis commissioned by The Washington Post to argue that Donald Trump's trade policy platform could cause a recession.

The business group, which is a consistent backer of Republican politicians, said in a blog post Friday that a recession would set in during the first year under the Republican front-runner's proposed tariffs because China and Mexico would likely impose retaliatory tariffs.

"Does a recession sound 'great' to you?" wrote J.D. Harrison, senior editor of digital content for the Chamber. "Does 7 million lost jobs sound like 'winning?' No, probably not. And yet, that's exactly where our country would be headed under Trump's trade policies, according to an analysis released last week."

Harrison said even if those countries decided not to retaliate — "an unlikely scenario based on recent history" — the tariffs would still result in the loss of at least 2 million jobs, and at least 1.5 million more wouldn't be created.